February in Boston means only one thing. SF conventions. Right? Right. I’ll be at Boskone again, and I’ll be busy is seems.

To the panel schedule!

Blurred Lines: Collapsing Literary Classifications

Friday 18:00 – 18:50

Speculative fiction authors write outside the box. Many don’t even _see_ the box! We’ll discuss works that defy the boundaries once confining speculative fiction (SF/F/H/YA) — and that also break down the barriers between our genres and romances, mysteries, thrillers, mainstream fiction, or even nonfiction. While we’re at it, what other boundaries can our authors demolish?

Great Ghost Stories

Friday 21:00 – 21:50

Out on the fringe, the living and the dead intersect in some fascinating fashion, bringing out the drama, tension, and atmosphere that have become hallmarks of a well-told tale of the supernatural. A shining example: Shirley Jackson’s _The Haunting of Hill House_. However, not all ghost stories are created equal. Join us for an unsettling discussion of what makes a good ghost story great — and why some don’t scare us for a second, while others haunt us still.

Kaffeeklatsche with Jack Haringa & Paul Tremblay

Saturday 13:00 – 13:50

Failure Is an Option

Saturday 17:00 – 17:50

We have been trained to believe that failure is a bad thing — that it’s never an option. Fear of failure paralyzes us, keeps us from trying new things and reaching beyond the safe choices. What if failure _were_ an option? How does failure affect the growth of a character? What about a society’s failure? How does failure affect the trajectory of a story? What can we learn from it, and what does it reveal about us and the stories we tell?

My Favorite (or Worst) Story and Why I Wrote It

Sunday 10:00 – 10:50

Certain short stories hold a special place in the author’s heart, no matter how they are perceived by the audience. Maybe it was an award-winner, gave birth to a series, earned a place in a notable anthology — or turned out to be a complete failure. Each panelist will discuss a single published short story and share its genesis. What challenges arose when writing it? Has it led to new opportunities, fan interactions, or other surprises? What makes it special?

Leigh Perry (M) , Paul G. Tremblay , Dana Cameron , Charlaine Harris

Who’s in the Attic, What’s in the Basement, and I Don’t Know Is Under the Bed

Sunday 13:00 – 13:50

A panel discussion of the things that give us goose bumps, send chills down our spines, or otherwise scare the daylights out of us.